Andy Ricker’s Whiskey Soda Lounge Officially Opening Next Month

Andy Ricker, from his official GoogaMooga trading card.
Photo: GoogaMooga

Four saffron-robed Buddhist monks from Long Island’s Vajiradhammapadip Temple stopped by Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok Whiskey Soda Lounge to bless the place, T reports. A pre-opening visit from the prayer squad is, of course, standard operating procedure for the restaurateur — “A blessing can’t hurt,” he says — and the long-awaited bar, which is slated to open next month, will help keep wait-listed customers on Columbia Street content with tamarind whiskey sours, but also with a menu of Ricker’s deft small plates, like “spicy-sour cured pork riblets.” There’s also something T describes as an “experimental dish featuring live, young eels,” which will undoubtedly not be ordered by anyone at all squeamish when the bar opens in “mid- to late-August.” [T/NYT, Earlier, Related]